Runners live longer, stay healthier

Here is great article to motivate you to run.

From Reuters - Runners live longer, stay healthier

WASHINGTON - People who want to live a long and healthy life might want to take up running. A study published on Monday shows middle-aged members of a runner's club were half as likely to die over a 20-year period as people who did not run.

Running reduced the risk not only of heart disease, but of cancer and neurological diseases such as Alzheimer's, researchers at Stanford University in California found.

Any type of vigorous exercise will likely do the trick, said Stanford's Dr. James Fries, who worked on the study. "It is the regular physical vigorous activity that is important."

To read the entire study go to URL: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26143460/

Vegetarian diet update

Tim and I have been on a vegetarian diet for around 4 months. Last week I went to the doctor for my yearly physical. At that time blood work was drawn. The results were great. My increase in exercising and vegetarian life style brought my LDL down 20 points and increased my HDL to 78. According to my doctor I have broken the link of heart disease that runs in my family by my new lifestyle. He said I will probably die from bad luck....now that heart disease has almost been eliminated. This is the proof that I needed that a vegetarian lifestyle is the only way to go.

Kitchen blunders that impact our diets

According to Shape magazine there are eight kitchen blunders that impact the quality of our diets:

You’re overloading on produce

Make a couple of trips to the grocery store each week to buy your fruits and vegetables. The vitamins and minerals in these foods begin to diminish as soon as they are picked. The longer you store them the fewer nutrients they will contain when you eat them. If you can't shop every few days pick up frozen produce. These fruits and veggies are harvested at their peak and are flash-frozen immediately. Because the produce isn’t exposed to oxygen, the nutrients stay stable for a year. Just be sure to avoid frozen products packed in sauces or syrups.

You’re too quick to cook your garlic

Science shows that if you cook garlic correctly, they may have the power to fight off cancer. Chop, slice, or crush your cloves, then set them aside for at least 10 minutes before sautéing. Breaking up garlic triggers an enzymatic reaction that releases a healthy compound called allyl sulfur; waiting to cook garlic allows enough time for the full amount of the compound to form.


The only time you eat avocados is in guacamole

Adding this green fruit to salads and sandwiches is an easy way to raise your nutritional bar. Avocados are exceptionally rich in folate, potassium, vitamin E and fiber. It’s true that they’re also high in fat, but it’s the heart-healthy monounsaturated kind. And half an avocado has just 153 calories.
One novel way to work them into your diet is to use them as a fat substitute in baking. Researchers wanted to see if avocado could work in the same way without affecting the taste. They replaced half of the butter in an oatmeal-cookie recipe with puréed avocado. Not only did this swap cut the total fat count by 35 percent (avocados have fewer fat grams per tablespoon than butter or oil), it also made the resulting treats softer, chewier, and less likely to crumble than cookies made according to the original recipe.

Don't skimp on seasonings

Herbs and spices not only enhance the flavor of your cooking without adding fat or sodium, but many of these fragrant ingredients also protect you from food poisoning. After testing 20 common seasonings against five strains of bacteria (including E. coli, staphylococcus and salmonella), researchers found that the higher the antioxidant value of the spice, the greater its ability to inhibit bacterial activity. Cloves, cinnamon sticks and oregano were the most effective at fighting off these food-borne pathogens. A separate study shows that rosemary, thyme, nutmeg and bay leaves are also antioxidant-rich. Adding half a teaspoon of herbs or spices to salads, vegetables and meats can give you extra peace of mind and boost your intake of disease-fighting antioxidants.

Don't peel to much of your produce

Most of the antioxidants and polyphenols in produce are located very close to the surface of the skin or in the skin itself. Most fruit peels exhibited two to 27 times more antioxidant activity than the pulp of the fruit. Many of us remove the skins from eggplant, bell peppers, peaches, apples and nectarines while preparing recipes, but we’re really just tossing away nutrients and fiber. Gently scrub potatoes and carrots rather than removing their skin, and use a vegetable peeler or sharp knife to pare away as thin a layer as possible from fruits and veggies that must be peeled.

You’re simmering away vitamins and minerals
Boiling vegetables can cause up to 90 percent of a food’s nutrients to leech out. Minerals like potassium and water-soluble vitamins like B and C end up getting tossed out with the water. Try steaming, microwaving or stir frying to retain the nutrients.

Wash all your produce before eating it

Most of us remember to rinse plums and berries before noshing on them, but when was the last time you doused a banana, orange, cantaloupe or mango with water? Harmful bacteria can linger on the surface and could be transferred to your hands or even to the inside of the fruit when you cut into it. To clean produce, simply run each piece under the tap and gently scrub. Using your hands to rub fruits like oranges, bananas and peaches under water is sufficient. When you’re done, dry the items with a clean cloth or paper towel. It’s important to wash your hands with soap and warm water for at least 20 seconds before and after you handle the items to further reduce the spread of bacteria. Also, throw out the outer leaves of greens like cabbage and lettuce before washing, as they’ve been handled the most and can have the highest levels of bacterial contamination.

Combine foods for maximum benefits

Pay attention to iron intake every day. Our bodies absorb about 15 to 35 percent of heme iron (found in meats and seafood), but just 2 to 20 percent of non-heme iron (from beans, whole-grain cereal, tofu and dark, leafy greens). Maximize how much iron you take in by pairing the latter group with vitamin C–rich foods and beverages, such as citrus fruits and juices, tomatoes, hot and sweet peppers, strawberries and melons. Drinking tea or coffee at meals can inhibit how much iron we absorb by up to 60 percent. That’s because these beverages contain compounds called polyphenols that bind to the iron. Wait until you’ve completely finished your meal before putting the kettle on to boil.

Book review - The China Study

Just got done reading a great book by T. Colin Campbell called the China Study . It was recommended by my son and daughter. The book examines the relationship between the consumption of animal products and illnesses such as cancers of the breast, prostate, and large bowel, diabetes, coronary heart disease, obesity, autoimmune disease, osteoporosis, degenerative brain disease, and macular degeneration. The study is a survey of death rates for twelve different kinds of cancer for more than 2,400 counties and 880 million of their people conducted jointly by Cornell University, Oxford University, and the Chinese Academy of Preventive Medicine over the course of twenty years. The results were amazing. Animal proteins (meat, chicken, fish, eggs and dairy) are responsible for many of the diseases we have.

From the study the author advocates a whole-foods, plant-based diet (a type of vegan diet which also restricts refined carbohydrates and highly processed foods) as a means to minimize and/or reverse the development of chronic disease. The authors also recommend that people take in adequate amounts of sunshine in order to maintain sufficient levels of Vitamin D. The authors criticize "low carb" diets (such as the Atkin's diet), which include restrictions on the percentage of calories derived from complex carbohydrates.

The China Study describes 8 princples of food and health:

* Nutrition represents the combined activities of countless food substances.
* Vitamin supplements are not a panacea for good health.
* There are virtually no nutrients in animal-based foods that are not better provided by plants.
* Genes do not determine disease on their own, they must be activated or expressed, and that nutrition plays a critical role in determining which genes, good and bad, are expressed.
* Nutrition can substantially control the adverse effects of noxious chemicals.
* The same nutrition that prevents disease in its early stages can also halt or reverse it in its later stages.
* Nutrition that is beneficial for a particular chronic disease will support good health across the board.
* Good nutrition creates health in all areas of our existence.

Hum, if this study is so good then why aren't doctors, the media, and government promoting a plant based diet more? Who stands to lose when we change our eating habits? The drug companies from all the prescription drugs that we'll no longer need to control our diabetes, high blood pressure etc? How about farmers who raise the meat and provide the dairy needs of the country? I'm sure there are many other people who will suffer economically if we eat better and are healthy....Oh, how about the funeral homes....not as many people dieing prematurely.

Dr. Dean Ornish has a great program designed on the same basis that this study found. He has has a lot of success in reversing heart disease. If you are interested in his life modification plan check out your local library for a number of books by Ornish.

After reading this book I've decided that Tim and I will try going vegetarian once a week. I'll pick a day of the week, and on that day all our meals we'll be vegetarian. After that we'll see what we think and possibly introduce another day. Not sure if can go totally without meat,chicken, and fish but we'll try.

Stop! Is that poop on your lemon? Rethinking Cornona?

I'm a big fan of the Today Show. While I walk in the morning I listen to the show on my radio. One of the things I leaned today was not to have lemon in my water and to think twice about having Coronas with limes in a restaurant.

"It's fairly common for restaurant staffers to place a lemon slice on the rim of a beverage glass as a flavor enhancer or decorative garnish. But who knows whether these lemons have been handled using sanitary procedures? Anne LaGrange Loving, a professor of science at Passaic County Community College, decided to find out.

Loving began her investigation after she saw a waitress’ fingertips dip into her soda as the drink was being brought to her table. Although lemon juice is known to kill germs, Loving devised a study to determine whether lemon slices contain germs when they are served to customers.

Using sterile collection swabs, Loving took two samples from each of 76 lemons that were served in restaurants in North Jersey. Patrons normally start to drink a beverage moments after it is served, so samples were taken right away, before a sip was taken and before anyone at the table touched it. One swab was rubbed along the rind, while a second was rubbed along the pulp. The restaurants were unaware that she was doing this. Samples were then analyzed for microbes at a clinical microbiology laboratory. A total of 25 different types of germs were found on 53 out of the 76 lemons that were sampled. Some were fecal in origin (either from dirty fingertips of the restaurant employees, or from meat-contaminated cutting boards and knives), while others were types commonly found in saliva, on the skin and in the environment.

Although there have been no reported outbreaks of illnesses attributed to lemon slices in beverages, every microorganism that was recovered had the potential to cause a variety of human infections. Establishment of an infection would depend upon the numbers and types of germs involved, the general health and age of the person and whether the person had chapped lips or a cold sore on the lips or gums.

At home, people can simply wash their lemons well with plenty of running water and soap to remove any protective wax that might have been added, then slice them using clean hands, a clean knife and a clean cutting board.

The study did not investigate other beverage garnishes such as olives, celery and limes. Alcoholic beverages were not tested. While alcohol is known to be antibacterial, studies would have to determine whether a beer, glass of wine or mixed drink would contain sufficient alcohol to kill germs quickly. Previous studies have shown, for example, that the communion wine left in a chalice after all parishioners have taken a sip is loaded with bacteria.

The full report of the investigation is in the December 2007 issue of the Journal of Environmental Health.

Northerners face greater heart disease from lack of sun

The Milwaukee Journal once again reported on the link between heart disease and vitamin D deficiency. Wisconsin residents (Northerners) need to supplement their intake of Vitamin D with pills from October through March. People who got increased levels of sun exposure or Vitamin D supplements had a better chance of surviving various cancers than those who got limited sun exposure.

The article says you should increase vitamin D supplements during the winter but unless you are in the sun everyday during the other months of the year, then you should continue taking vitamin D throughout the year. Tim and I take two 1000 IU softgel tablets a day. Tim will increase to 3 a day during the winter. You can overdose on Vitamin D so don't go over 2000 IU a day unless you are under doctor's orders. To read the article go to:

http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=704453